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1 Kyrra Slind Open Airs (Music &#38; Nature MUSNATCD01). With open-strung and baroque classical guitars and lute, this album has quite a 1960s feel in its sense of adven- ture – and that’s no bad thing! The long, exploratory tracks are the best, but it’s all high quality. www.birnamcd.com

The albums – good (2), adequate (1) and bad (@) – which didn’t get the full-length treatment, contributed individually by a selection of our various reviewers cowering under the cloak of collective anonymity.

2 Klezmeyers Emilias Lacheln (GLM FM 203-2). Seamless fusion of Hot Club era jazz, flamenco and klezmer music. With no over- dubs there is nowhere to hide. No problems here! The instrumental prowess of the indi- vidual musicians is staggering, including some unbelievably hot soloing from guitarist Robert Kebler. www.glm.de

1 The Roaring Trowmen Testing… (Own label no cat no). Bristol-based shanty group named after the pilots of Severn cargo barges, whose testing-the-water debut brings a degree of fresh reassessment to a collection of approved ‘bread-and-butter’ shanties: roaring lustily (if sometimes over-enthusiasti- cally) on some while exercising greater restraint on others. roaringtrowmen.co.uk

@ Gordie MacKeeman And His Rhythm Boys Laugh, Dance and Sing (Own label no cat no). Sorry, but recordings like this are an affront to my ears. MacKeeman leads his band on fiddle and vocals with pulsating drums and anything else he could find adding to the noise. Moderation may help. www.gordiemackeeman.com

1 Ozere Finding Anyplace (Own label no cat no). Canadian acoustic quintet with songs written and sung, mostly by Jessica Deutsch and Emily Rookarta. A few long meandering fiddle tunes take some getting past to some quite good harmony singing and tasty man- dolin elsewhere. www.ozere.ca

1 Beggar’s Bridge Short Stories, Tall Tales (Own label, no cat no). There should be more bands like Beggar’s Bridge taking the lore and legend of their own backyard and turning up the volume on specifically local electric roots. In this case the stories and fables of East Yorkshire are given some colour and heft. I’d have liked a lead guitar but that’s small moan.www.beggars-bridge.co.uk

1 Papernut Cambridge And Luke Smith &#38; The Feelings Sullivan’s Travels EP (Gare du Nord GDN43003). East Kent collaborative tribute to comedy writer John Sullivan, from the pub cockney of Only Fools And Horses to the bittersweet Just Good Friends. A whimsi- cal labour of love that catches the moods per- fectly, and the vinyl has a link to Smith’s online sort of explanation. Luvverly! www.garedunordrecords.com

2 Various Artists The Ultimate Guide To Scottish Folk (ARC Music EUCD2606). Two- and-a-half hours of Scottish music! Nice mix of old (Ceolbeg, Ossian) and new (Mischa MacPherson, Breabach). Classic tracks by flag- ship artists (Capercaillie, Dick Gaughan), plus examples of the musical genre-crossing that the Scottish scene does so well (Martyn Ben- nett, Lau). www.arcmusic.co.uk

Trader Horne

1 Varldens Band Transglobal Roots Fusion (Nataraj Music NATREC1506). Big band with musicians from all over the globe playing a mix of folk, roots and pop from just about everywhere. ‘World music’ indeed, well played, well intentioned but somewhat lack- ing in grit, swing or a sense of focus. varldensband.com

1 Baked A La Ska Ska of Wonder (Lime- field Records LFCD020). Pun-loving Mancuni- an ska combo offers a Christmas special. Blue- beat versions of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Walking In The Air and other unlikely festive favourites delivered with energy and a sense of fun. Hit-and-miss and probably best experienced live. www.bakedalaska.biz

1 Tantz Voytek (The Bear) (Own label no cat no).They describe their own sound as “frenzied hyper klezmer” and there’s certain- ly a wild momentum in the raw clarinet and violin soloing, recorded as live in the studios of Portishead’s Jim Barr. Bold, ardent and mis- chievous, this debut should be a gateway to the band’s renowned live frenzy. www.tantz.co.uk

@ Kath Reade Where the Good Hearts Dwell (Limbolabel 0032). If an album of songs based on people encountered during a career in social work sounds like hard going, you would not be wrong. The occasional telling lyric and, like it says on the packaging, its heart is in the right place, but the high- light is Four Loom Weaver accompanied on Tibetan singing bowls. www.kathreade.com